


not even a little bit (not even at all)

by dreamshadow



Category: The 100
Genre: Alternative Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Bisexual Canon Characters, Bisexual Female Character, Drama rama, F/F, F/M, Fake Dating, Finn Collins Being an Asshole, Fluff, Inspired by 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Lesbian, Matchmaking, Romance, Supporting Bellarke, high school setting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:49:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23985586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamshadow/pseuds/dreamshadow
Summary: Emma Rhodes planned on keeping her head down for senior year.John Murphy planned on making some extra cash by taking out an unsuspecting pretty girl.What neither of them planned on was each other.a 10 things i hate about you au with a twist | for down-in-flames' modern AU challenge
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Finn Collins/Clarke Griffin, John Murphy/Original Female Character, Raven Reyes/Original Female Character
Kudos: 3





	not even a little bit (not even at all)

The first day of senior year at Polis High should’ve felt like a momentous occasion. 

Emma Rhodes eyed the large double doors that towered over her, leaving one last boundary between the outside world and the high school world. A few people brushed passed her, moving on autopilot and not bothering to take a second to stop. She was relieved to finally be blending back into the background, which was where she preferred to be. Being in the spotlight the last two years was less than ideal.

Now, though, she got to be a normal senior, with the only thing special about her being that she was captain of the girls’ varsity soccer team. And she was more than okay with that.

Walking through these doors should’ve felt special, but it felt like any other day. She made her way to her locker in the senior hallway, glad that whatever memorabilia that had lingered where her sophomore locker had been the last few years after the accident was long gone. She could still see the flowers and the stuffed animals by his old locker, even if they weren’t there anymore. 

Doing this alone wasn’t something she was going to get used to. Even if it was two years later. 

Emma pulled up her phone as she turned the locker combination, half expecting a text from her best friend. Perri Laughlin was always late -- it was a fact she could count on, like the sun rising even after the longest night. Usually, there was a text that read ‘be there in 5!’ or ‘just got out of the shower!’, but this time, there was nothing. She frowned as she scanned through their message thread, trying not to think about how much had changed between them over the last six months.

But that was another story.

She shoved her phone back into her bag and grabbed her books out of her locker. She found the paperback she was reading for fun and was about to check what page number she was on when two familiar voices floated down the hall. She tried to hide the smile as she recognized one of them almost immediately.

“All I’m saying is we wouldn’t have been late if you didn’t hog the bathroom.” 

“If you listened to your first  _ seven alarms _ , you might’ve had a chance to get in the bathroom before I woke up.” 

“What did you even do in there for twenty minutes?” Perri demanded, smiling as she saw Emma. 

Emma started to smile back until she saw Perri’s companion. The smile fell, Emma’s critical eye sweeping over the familiar black hoodie and faded jeans. He leaned against the locker as Perri started the combination on her locker. 

“So you  _ are _ alive,” Emma said dryly. “And here I was starting to hope you’d fallen off a mountain or got caught in a fire or something.” 

Perri rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged on her lips. “Did you not get my text that Murphy was coming back?” 

“Apparently not.” 

“Nice to see you too, Rhodes,” Murphy replied, his signature smirk in place. “You seem to have survived without me just fine.” 

“Believe it or not, Murphy, you don’t have that much of an impact on my survival rate,” Emma replied, trying to subtly glance over at Perri. 

Perri, however, was distracted as usual. Her thumbs flew across her phone keyboard as if she had more than two friends to text -- like they weren’t standing right next to her. Not that Emma was really much better; her one and only friend seemed to have forgotten to mention the very important detail that the third member of their trio of outcasts, the one who had mysteriously disappeared for the entirety of junior year, was coming back just in time for senior year. 

Perri glanced between Emma and Murphy. She fiddled on her phone again and her eyes widened. “Fuck, Emma. I never hit send, it’s been crazy.” 

“Mhm,” Emma replied. She glanced back over at Murphy. “So you’re sticking around?” 

“Don’t sound too excited about it.” 

“I’ll try to contain myself.” 

Perri closed her locker and the three of them started walking down the hall. It wasn’t a surprise that Perri situated herself in the middle of them, almost like a barrier between the two. It wasn’t that Emma and Murphy didn’t like each other -- he just seemed to know exactly how to push her buttons and wasn’t afraid to do so. And his latest disappearing act wasn’t doing him any favors either. And, well. Maybe there was a part of her that didn’t like him either.

As they walked, Emma’s eyes caught when she saw someone she didn’t recognize talking to Raven Reyes down the hall. Polis was a small enough town that everyone knew everyone, and Emma knew she would’ve remembered if she saw him in town. He was tall with curly dark brown hair, darker skin, and wore jeans and a blue tee-shirt that showed off the muscles in his back and shoulders. He laughed at something Raven said, a rich sound Emma couldn’t help but get drawn to. 

“Hey,” she said, absentmindedly grabbing onto Perri’s arm to slow them down. “Who’s that talking to Raven?” 

“Uh, Bellamy Blake,” Perri replied. “Raven said she was showing a new kid around this morning.” 

“What kind of name is Bellamy?” Murphy chimed in, glancing over.

“A new kid in senior year?” Emma asked at almost the same time. 

“He’s supposed to be some Army brat,” Perri answered without missing a beat. “Apparently he hasn’t stayed in the same school for more than a year, so don’t get too excited.” 

“Damn, you’ve been holding out all kinds of information on me this morning, Laughlin,” Emma replied and Perri just shrugged. 

“So are you gonna talk to him?” Perri asked, glancing over at Emma. 

Emma met her gaze. She knew what she would’ve done in a past life; walked right up to him and introduced herself, offering to take over the tour for Raven. Now, she broke eye contact, fully aware that Murphy stood next to them. She knew he wouldn’t have known the reason for her change in behavior, but if she were honest, she didn’t think he’d even notice. 

“No,” she said after a moment. “He seems more like Clarke’s type.” 

“And how is your sister doing?” Murphy asked and she nudged him in the ribs. “That well, huh?” 

“Don’t you remember the unspoken rule, John?” Perri asked as they walked away from where Perri and Bellamy were standing. “We don’t talk about Clarke.” 

“My mistake,” he said. “I should’ve consulted the handbook before I came back this morning.” 

“You probably should’ve,” Emma agreed and he rolled his eyes.

“So basically we’re not allowed to talk about your family, ever,” Murphy continued. “Clarke, your dad, your mom--” 

“Do we ever talk about anyone’s families?” Emma interjected. 

“No, but you’re the only one with--” 

“John, if you don’t shut up, I won’t stop her from hurting you,” Perri replied. “And you know she could take you.” 

“What, you mean short stack over here?” Murphy asked, an amused tilt in his voice. “She can barely reach my chin, I doubt she could do much damage.” 

Perri snorted before she could help herself. Emma’s lips almost twitched into a smile but that didn’t stop her from putting an arm across his chest and pushing him against one of the nearby lockers. He slammed into it, causing a few people to look at them. She kept her arm just below his chin and pressed his back against the metal. 

“Didn’t realize you liked it rough, Rhodes,” he replied, the smirk growing on his face. 

“Fuck you, Murphy,” she said. She pushed a little more weight on her arm and he almost winced. If she weren’t so close, she definitely would’ve missed it. 

“Miss Rhodes, Mr. Murphy,” an all-too familiar voice said. “What’s going on here?” 

Emma shoved him one more time before glancing up at Marcus Kane, Polis High’s vice principal. It wasn’t the first time she’d caught his attention but she usually tried to avoid contact as much as possible. Usually the arrangement worked out pretty well.

“Nothing,” she said innocently. “Murphy was just being a dick.” 

“It’s true, sir,” Perri agreed, a smile in her voice. 

“Well unfortunately, ‘ _ being a dick’  _ isn’t reason enough to inflict violence, Miss Rhodes,” Kane replied calmly. “Mrs. Lightborne will be looking forward to seeing you in her office. You too, Mr. Murphy.” 

“What did I do?” he protested. 

“Existed,” Emma grumbled under her breath. 

“Enough, you two. I’ll let Mrs. Lightborne know you’ll be stopping by after class,” Kane said. He gave Emma a disapproving look, hardly glanced at Perri, and turned on his heel. 

The first bell rang, signaling that the three of them were going to be late for class. “He’s such an ass,” Emma grumbled. 

“Maybe you’ll think twice next time before you slam someone against the locker then,” Murphy replied. 

“Not likely.” 

“Okay, children,” Perri said, annoyance leaking out of her voice. “Emma, I’ll see you later for lunch. Try not to rough anyone else up before then.” 

“No promises,” Emma called, waving behind her as they went in their opposite directions to class.  
  


* * *

  
The rest of the school day went by relatively uneventfully. She liked most of her classes -- especially her AP English Lit one -- and even meeting with Mrs. Lightborne hadn’t been too bad. She gave Emma the typical lecture of controlling herself and Emma promised to try not to beat anyone up. 

Practice wasn’t too awful either. As captain, she got to help run most of it, but that didn’t mean she got out of anything. Most of the girls either respected her or were afraid of her, but at least they listened.

When Harper MacIntyre dropped her off in the driveway, Emma was exhausted. She probably ran too hard again, but it wasn’t going to stop her from going on another one later that evening. Sometimes pushing her body to the extremes was the only way to get herself to sleep, and with school back in session, she needed all the sleep she could get.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said, her hand already on the door handle. 

“Any time, Emma,” she said. “And hey, I know we don’t know each other very well, but you have my number. If you ever want to hang out or something.” 

Emma flashed her a smile. “Thanks.” 

It was true that Harper was probably the person she’d be most likely to hang out with outside of practice. She was one of the few people who stuck by her after the disastrous party sophomore year, and even before then, she’d always just been… nice. Sometimes Emma felt a twinge of guilt for not getting to know her better, but this way it was just easier. Less goodbyes at the end of the year, less fake promises of keeping in touch in college. 

Emma was about to climb out of the car when she recognized a red sports car sitting in the driveway. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding,” she said, anger boiling in her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Harper asked, glancing over at her. 

“Finn Collins,” Emma replied, pointing to the car.

Harper frowned. “What’s he doing here?” 

“Hopefully not Clarke,” Emma said, already out the door. “Thanks again for the ride.” 

“Any time,” she replied. “And Emma -- murder is still murder.” 

Emma waved her off and walked into the house. She braced herself for whatever she was going to find on the other side of the door, not bothering to announce her presence as the door slammed shut behind her. Their parents -- well, their father, really -- had a strict rule about dating ever since that party sophomore year, and Emma knew Clarke would be in serious trouble if she was caught with Finn home. 

To say she was surprised to see Finn and Clarke next to each other, playing videogames, would be the biggest fucking understatement of the year. 

“What the fuck?” Emma demanded, staring at them.

Clarke glanced up from the game. “How do you get so dirty at practice? It wasn’t even raining out.” 

Emma glanced down at the dirt on her legs. “It’s my natural look.” 

“I’d say it’s working for you, Emma,” Finn replied, flashing a smile at her. 

Emma rolled her eyes. “You might want to get out of here before Kane comes home,” she warned him. “Or you know, maybe not. You must have a death wish coming here anyway. You know the rule.” 

“Right, ‘ _ no boys allowed _ ’,” Finn recited. The Griffin-Kane house rule was well known in Polis; people often tried to cite it as a reason Emma and Clarke were the way they were. “Seems a little biased, isn’t it? Especially since you weren’t even caught with a guy at the party.” 

“We’re not doing anything,” Clarke protested. “We’re just hanging out.” 

“Do you even know how to do that, Finn?” Emma asked, arching a brow. 

“Clearly, since we’re doing it now,” Clarke answered, annoyance dripping from her voice. “You know, it’s not really a surprise you don’t have very many friends. That would require people to actually like you.” 

“Plenty of people like me, Clarke,” Emma replied. 

“No, most people refer to you as a heinous bitch¹, actually,” Clarke said matter-of-factly. 

“Which is probably a pretty common trait, if you like--” 

Emma walked over to the couch. “Seriously, Finn? Get the fuck out.” 

“Or what? You gonna rough me up like you did with Murphy earlier today? Didn’t you get detention for that?” 

Emma grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to his feet. “I wouldn’t push it, Collins.” 

“Jesus, Emma,” Clarke said. She looked over at Finn and nodded. “You should go. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” 

Emma kept her gaze on Finn and shoved him out of her reach. 

“Crazy bitch,” he said before adjusting his shirt. He glared at Emma, nodded at Clarke, and disappeared out the door.

“What the hell is your problem, Emma?” Clarke demanded. “Am I not allowed to be friends with someone just because  _ you _ don’t like him? You know, you’re really not much better than Dad.” 

Emma turned to focus her attention on Clarke. She tried to keep her face passive as Clarke referred to Kane as ‘Dad’ -- a label Emma had always refused to call him.

“Fine,” she said evenly. “You want to waste your time with pieces of garbage like Finn Collins? I don’t care, Clarke. Just don’t come crying to me when he shows you his true colors.” 

“He didn’t touch me  _ once  _ the entire time we were here,” she protested. “People change.” 

“Maybe, but a tiger doesn’t change his stripes²,” Emma replied. Her eyes swept over Clarke again, taking in the perfect, the perfect sundress she was wearing and her blonde hair tied in a neat side-braid. She could see why almost the entire senior class was in love with her stepsister; she looked like a goddamn angel next to Emma, in her dirty shorts and practice jersey. “Remember that.” 

Emma didn’t let Clarke get a response in before heading upstairs. She beelined to her room, closing the door as soon as she got in. She dropped her bags by the door and took her cleats off, knowing Kane would probably kill her for possibly tracking dirt on the floors, but she didn’t care. As she started to strip off her clothes for clean ones, she pulled out her phone, her thumb already swiping up with her message thread with Perri. 

**Emma, 5:45PM  
** so you’ll never guess who was at my house when i came home

**Perri, 5:47PM  
** Hmm  
Probably not that new kid, right? 

**Emma, 5:49PM  
** ha ha  
no, worse

**Perri, 5:55PM  
** Didn’t realize Army Boy being there would be a bad thing  
But continue  
Who was at the house, Emma? 

**Emma, 5:58PM  
** are you mocking me

  
  


**Perri, 5:59PM  
** You’re really bad at sharing gossip

**Emma, 6:00PM  
** finn fucking collins

**Perri, 6:02PM  
** I’m sorry  
What  
The Fuck?

**Emma, 6:03PM  
** I KNOW  
he was ‘hanging out’ with clarke

**Perri, 6:04PM  
**He’s a piece of shit  
I know you don’t like Clarke, but don’t let him near her

**Emma, 6:06PM  
** she can make her own decisions   
but i made it very clear i didn’t approve

**Perri, 6:08PM  
** Mhm  
I bet you did

**Emma, 6:10PM  
** what does that mean

**Perri, 6:12PM  
**Nothing  
Just that you’re very… expressive  
About your opinions 

**Emma, 6:14PM  
** mhm

**Perri, 6:16PM  
** That’s it

**Perri, 6:19PM  
** Oh, before I forget  
I really meant to tell you about Murphy, but I didn’t think him coming back was such a big thing

**Emma, 6:21PM  
** it’s not  
i just...i don’t like when people drop in and out of my life without warning

**Perri, 6:23PM  
** Right  
Well, you guys weren’t really that close before

  
  


**Emma, 6:24PM  
** right

**Perri, 6:26PM  
** Also, for the sake of full disclosure 

**Emma, 6:27PM  
** why do i not like the sound of this

**Perri, 6:29PM  
** No, it’s fine, it’s just…  
He doesn’t uh, know

**Emma, 6:33PM  
** doesn’t know what? 

**Perri, 6:35PM  
** About the party  
Or about us

  
Emma stared down at the texts. She stretched her legs out on her bed, not sure why her throat felt so dry. She hadn’t told anyone about Perri either -- but she didn’t really have anyone to tell. She watched as the three grey dots appeared and disappeared as Perri clearly struggled with what to say on the other end. It was true that they’d agreed that their relationship (could she even call it that?) wouldn’t last forever. They even ended on good terms. So why did she feel the familiar sense of disappointment clench her stomach? 

She realized it’d been a little while since she’d said anything. She cleared her throat, quickly looked up to make sure her door was still closed, and started texting again. 

**Emma, 6:45PM  
** hey, it’s fine   
we said it was no big deal, right? 

**Perri, 6:50PM  
** Right  
I just didn’t want you to think I’m… or I was…  
I’m not ashamed or anything, he just didn’t need to know 

Emma swallowed a burn in her throat. She didn’t know why this felt like their breakup all over again -- it wasn’t even a fucking breakup. God, she needed to get her shit together. 

**Emma, 7:00PM  
** yeah no, me either  
we’re fine, laughlin  
don’t lose sleep over it

**Perri, 7:02PM  
** Right  
There are plenty of other things for me to do that with

**Emma, 7:04PM  
**i mean, same  
anyway  
i’m gonna shower and i should probably eat  
and i think kane’s home now too so…

**Perri, 7:06PM  
** Okay  
Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then  
I can pick you up, but Murphy gets shotgun 

**Emma, 7:07PM  
** what  
really  
i had no idea

**Perri, 7:09PM  
** You’re hilarious  
See you tomorrow

**Emma, 7:10PM  
** until tomorrow, laughlin

  
Without waiting for a response, Emma shoved her phone into the covers on her bed. She stood up and stretched her sore muscles. She didn’t look back as she left the room for the bathroom she shared with Clarke, hoping like hell that whatever  _ feeling  _ she got whenever she received a text from Perri would go away.

It just wouldn’t end well for either of them -- and she couldn’t afford to lose the only friend she had.

**Author's Note:**

> ¹ 'heinous bitch’ is a direct quote to ten things i hate about you  
> ² a quote from lost 
> 
> Perri Laughlin is an OC that belongs to clevernotbrilliant, who’s kind enough to let me borrow her sometimes; Emma Rhodes is an OC that belongs to me.


End file.
